riding the subway
by Empress of Everything
Summary: A subway ride, a rescue, and blossoming romance make for a wonderful story. Besides, a Lucy Kick is the best and only way to start a romance.
**A/N:** _So here's the LaLu train AU I promised you, **apriiil**. There is no angst, just fluff. Enjoy, dearlings._

 **Pairing:** LaLu (Laxus/Lucy)

 **Prompt:** you made eye contact with me when a creep tried coming onto me on the subway and now you're pretending to be an old friend who wants to catch up and we're having fun making up mutual memories on the spot _{So this prompt got a little_ _altered and went in a different direction than I planned. That's okay, I think it turned out better this way. :)}_

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It was a commonly known fact that Lucy Heartfilia _hated_ the subway. She didn't have a car and buses made her nervous, so that left the subway. She would have carpooled with one of her friends, but no one worked at the same time or even in the same direction as her.

With great reluctance ( _and a can of pepper spray gifted to her courtesy of Erik for her 18th birthday_ ) Lucy would board the subway every single weekday with well hidden trepidation. So far, she'd been left alone.

That was the _stupidest_ thing she could have thought.

She'd been friends with Jackal and Macbeth long enough to know just when things seem like they are going right, that is the _exact_ moment it will all go to hell in a hand-basket.

She could never forget the Great Mushroom Detonation Project of 2014 that had failed miserably right at the last moment. Turns out, mushrooms and C4 don't go together very well. ( _She still thinks Sting messed up the results somehow._ )

Her day had actually gone pretty well, all things considered. The office had run smoothly, and she'd been able to edit two or three chapters of her friend Tsubaki's newest installment in the Camilla series. Lunch with Tsubaki and Levy had been a much needed and welcomed break from eye-spinning errors of rookie writers who were trying to get into the business. Would it _kill_ them to learn to use spell check?

Then she got on the subway and almost _instantly_ a creepy pervert latched onto her and would. not. go. away. She kept edging her way around the train car and he kept following her!

Lucy cast her eyes around frantically. This creep just would _not_ leave her alone! What was she supposed to do? Her stop wasn't for at least thirty more minutes! Did she need to use her pepper spray on him?

Her frantic thoughts were halted by a heavy arm suddenly draping itself around her shoulders. Said arm crushed her to a very muscular chest, nearly suffocating her. "Hey, long time no see!" A cheerful male voice said in her ear. Lucy squeaked. The voice lowered. "Go with it. What's your name?"

"Lucy," she hissed back. "Yours?"

"Laxus," he replied and released her. Lucy chanced a glance over her shoulder, catching sight of the creep who'd been hitting on her. He had paled dramatically and was scooting rapidly away from the two. Laxus took a step back and smiled down at her. Now that he wasn't quite so much in her personal space, she could get a good look at her rescuer.

 _Holy freaking alpaca fiber, she'd been rescued by a Greek god._

Lucy wasn't unfamiliar with being around attractive men. Natsu, while being a dork and an idiot, was still very handsome in an exotic way with his dark tan skin and pink hair. Erik was just as handsome, though you couldn't tell the two were brothers just by looking at them. His maroon hair was several shades darker than Natsu's salmon locks. Her own brother was a lady magnet, and Macbeth, Rogue, and Jackal were just as gorgeous. Though Macbeth went more for the Goth look than trying to be pretty.

Levy liked to joke that Lucy had her own personal reverse harem of pretty men.

Lucy had thrown pillows at her for weeks afterward.

Even if it _was_ true that her boys ( _she had given them all a shirt one year for Christmas with Lucy's Boys written across it_ ) hovered around her like bees around the queen, she had only dated Jackal for a couple months. _That_ had ended quickly, both blondes rapidly agreeing they were better off friends.

But this guy put being gorgeous on a whole new scale. Tall, blonde, broody, sexy, with a wicked looking scar across his face, ( _what? she had friends with scars, i.e, Erik and Natsu, and they were still sexy as all get out_ ), she was trying not to drool. _Bloody bones_ , he was amazing looking. And he had saved her from a creepy pervert, so that was a bonus.

"Nice to see you again, Lucy. It's been, what, three years?" Oh right, she needed to stop ogling him and have a conversation. They were going to play the 'I remember you from years ago let's catch up' game? She could do that.

"Yeah, since college graduation." Lucy smiled up at him, holding onto the rail. "What was the last time? When you dumped coffee on me three days before finals and I nearly killed you because it was _my_ precious caffeine you wasted?" Laxus grinned slowly. Sassy was she? He liked this girl. It made his decision to help her out, like any decent man would, much more interesting. She had a quick mind, keeping up the charade of being old friends from years ago.

 _And_ she was pretty.

"No, you had dropped a shelf full of books on my head and tried to pretend it was my fault though _clearly_ it was yours." She snickered. "Not my fault, Jackal and Sting were running through the library shouting and I was trying to stop them." It was a little weird that he should have mentioned that instance because it had actually happened. He studied her, thinking the same thing. Was it possible that they actually knew each other?

Lucy reached up a hand to brush her bangs back, and he caught sight of her keychain. He lifted her can of pepper spray attached to her keys. "Nice," he said with a grin. "I don't think I've ever seen this brand before."

The can was small, pink, and had a sticker on it that said 'Dragon Repellant' with an image of a dragon with a red X over it. Lucy groaned. "It was a gift from my brother figure for my 18th birthday. I think it was supposed to be a sort of joke? I think he was implying that I use it to kick Natsu out of my room." She paused. "And bed." Lucy frowned and tapped her fingers on her chin. "Come to think of it, knowing Erik it wasn't actually a joke. He would have been _thrilled_ if I used it on Natsu."

Laxus was staring at her as if she'd just announced her decision to become the queen of the moon. "Natsu? As in, Natsu Dragneel, pink haired pyro with no mouth filter who thinks he's a fire dragon?" Lucy blinked at him.

"Oh heavens, you know Natsu?"

Laxus snapped his fingers suddenly. "You're Luce!" He said it like he just discovered the sky was blue. "Natsu doesn't ever shut up about you. I was convinced he had actually found a girlfriend from the way he talked constantly about some girl." Lucy blanched and began waving her hands around frantically.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She looked utterly horrified by such a suggestion. "Natsu and I are just friends. Gah, I need brain bleach now. I can't get those images out of my head." Her whole body shuddered while he snickered. He was familiar with the madness contained within Natsu. He didn't blame Lucy for freaking out the way she was. "My brother was the one who actually introduced me to him and Erik."

"And who _is_ your brother?" Laxus asked slowly. It would be just his luck she'd be related to someone like the Ice Stripper.

"Sting Eucliffe Heartfilia." Brown eyes rolled in her pretty head. "He met Natsu, Erik, and Rogue through some Dragon meeting or something like that." She sighed again, not noticing that Laxus wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying, but rather to her animated face. She was about to continue when an automated voice announced they were pulling into Eisenwald Station. Lucy squeaked as she was flung into Laxus's arms by the sudden stop.

 _Mmmm…he smells like cinnamon. So good… Oh my gosh, I'm sniffing my friend's friend! This is awkward! Wait, this is my stop! I need to get off._

Lucy tried to disentangle herself from Laxus's arms.

 _Tried_ being the key word.

He didn't let go.

"Uh, Laxus? This is my stop. I need to get off."

He still didn't let go. "Laxus! Seriously! I need to go!" When he _still_ didn't release her, she decided to go into default mode.

"LUCY! KICK!"

With that, she was free and bolting off the train just as the doors slid closed.

Laxus was left reeling, dazed from her kick, and staring after the flash of blonde hair and pink skirt (and the flash of blue he'd seen when she kicked him).

When he saw Natsu and Erik the next day, both inquired about the bruise on his face. Rogue took one look at him and promptly said, "You met Lucy."

Sting stared at the bigger man, who had an uncharacteristic flush creeping up his neck. Behind him, Erik was on the floor, choking on his own lungs with laughter. "Oh jeez, she Lucy Kicked you, didn't she? What happened?"

"I helped her out, she fell on me, then kicked me and ran off."

"That's Lucy," all four chorused. Natsu continued. "You're lucky she just kicked you. The first time we met, she judo-flipped me, called me a pervert, and kicked me between the legs, _then_ ran off."

"You accidentally burned her shirt off, Natsu. I think she was justified in killing you." Erik's slow drawl had Natsu pinned against the wall by an enraged Laxus.

"Woah! Dude, chill!" It took Rogue and Erik to pull Laxus off of a rapidly purpling Natsu. "Laxus, seriously, you met her once. I think you need to calm down. What happened with Natsu was an accident. If you calm down, we can try and arrange a way for you two to meet up again if you want." Sting, surprisingly, was the voice of reason in this sudden, _really_ weird situation.

Laxus took a step back, surprised and ashamed of his sudden loss of self control. Him trying to kill Natsu was nothing new. His overreaction was something different. He didn't even _know_ Lucy really and he had gone into a protective rage already.

He needed help.

Thankfully, the others were more than willing to help him with his 'blonde situation' as Erik had dubbed it. Macbeth and Jackal got in on the fun, with everyone offering conflicting advice on how to deal with Lucy Heartfilia.

Three weeks, ten cases of RedBull, five hours ( _or maybe it was fifteen_ ) of a rant on Lucy's odd habits which apparently included extreme acts of violence against the boys she loved, her near obsession/addiction to strawberries, and just some other psychotic habits, and several other embarrassing moments, Laxus finally managed to meet up with Lucy again.

He didn't get Lucy Kicked as he stuttered out a request for a date. She smiled, apologized for kicking him, and accepted his offer.

Six months later, they were still dating. The Dragon Bros, aka Lucy's Boys, were watching with pleasure as their mutual friends grew closer.

Two years after their initial, spontaneous meeting, on the same subway route, instead of saving Lucy from a creepy pervert, Laxus was down on one knee asking Lucy to spend the rest of her life with him.

To the cheers of all their friends and the strangers on the subway as well, Lucy, sobbing and laughing, said yes.

In every year that followed, the couple would ride that same route, remembering their first meeting and everything that had happened since.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Eeeee! I managed to work in a proposal! *does dance of happiness* Not at all what I was planning for this prompt but I think this was even better._


End file.
